Regrets
by hear the whispers
Summary: Hook had very few regrets in life. The part he had played in her current pain and suffering was one of them. Based on the Lacey promo.


**_**SPOILERS_**_**! Do not read this if you haven't seen the latest promo for Once. ****_

_**As you can imagine, that promo for Lacey just destroyed me. As if Regina needs anymore pain and suffering in her life, now they have to go and physically torture her! I'm also really worried about that part where Hook seems to be involved, so I wrote this, because I can't let my ship sink in silence. Anyway, I hope you like it. It hasn't been through beta, and I wrote it very quickly so I don't know how good it is. **_

_**Disclaimer: all characters do not belong to me. If I did, what happened in the promo would not be real. **_

_**Please leave a review!**_

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_**Regrets **_

Hook had very few regrets. It was something he had always prided himself on. There was very little that he regrated not doing, aside from killing the crocodile when he had the chance. In the past, if he had wanted to do something, he did it. The only other regret he had was Milah's death, but her passing had not been his fault.

This however, was. This was his fault. It was his fault because she had trusted him, even if it was just a small trust, and he had betrayed that. He had double crossed people before, and he regrated none of them. But he regrated this. Because this time, he was around to see the after affects.

It was her complexion that had struck him first. Her skin was deathly pale, whiter than snow, almost corpse like. The pallor of her face contrasted sharply to her raven hair, and in the shadows of room it seemed to shine like a beacon.

But the paleness of her skin was not what had caught his attention, not what was keeping him routed to the spot, nor what had made his breath catch in his throat as his heart sped up. No, that was all down to her eyes.

Her eyes had once possessed a fire and passion that had surprised him. Her eyes were deep and dark, possibly the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. Even when she had her defences up, it was possible to see the wall behind her eyes.

Now, the fire was gone. Snuffed out like a candle flame. There was no emotion, no life, in those once so expressive orbs. There wasn't even pain or fear. Just emptiness. Blackness. A darkness with no form or life, but one that was soul consuming. A film glazed her eyes, and dried tear tracks leaked from the corners of her eyes into her inky black hair. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of her chest, he wouldn't have thought twice about her being dead.

He waved his hook in front of her face, testing for a reaction. Her eyes flickered sideways, and he had the most unpleasant feeling of being dragged down into the emptiness that leaked from her eyes. He tried to force a smirk, simply for the sake of trying to get some anger, some emotion from her, but her expression remained as blank and unemotional as an artist's canvass. He caught his bottom lip between his teeth, the smirk fading from his lips as her eyes drifted back from the ceiling.

He hadn't wanted this.

Regina had been the only person in this wretched town that had ever interested him. The only person who had commanded his respect, and who he had always believed could hold her own. She was the only person who he could relate to. After all, he would go to the ends of the earth to destroy the crocodile if he had to, and her revenge was what had created this town in the first place. Talking to her had been entertaining, engaging, and even fun. He'd liked the spark in her eyes and the danger that followed her.

The woman lying on the table in front of him was a shell. Even after her mother's death, she had never seemed so…hopeless.

His eyes moved down her, stopping at the ropes binding her to the table. He wondered why she hadn't broken free. After all, Tamara's attempt to extract the woman's magic hadn't worked at all. He couldn't help but wonder if she had actually believed that it would work. Perhaps she'd just wanted to hurt her. Now that he was the only one in the room, a room that moments ago had been empty, there was very little stopping her from escaping. Henry was no longer under their control, which she undoubtedly knew, so it wasn't as if they could hold the threat of his death over her head.

His eyes moved lower, where they stopped. Regina's hands lay open on the table top, palms up, and there was dried blood in the lines and creases of her hands. Crescent marks marred her palms, marks that he realised she had inflicted herself. She'd been clenching her hands so tightly that she had pierced her own flesh.

And then he understood. The woman had been beaten down so many times that she no longer that the will to pick herself up. She'd lost her true love (Cora had taken great pride in relaying the events that had led to her daughter becoming queen, and it wasn't hard to recognise someone that had been through the same pain as you), and her mother. She'd practically lost her son to the very people she had tried to destroy. She'd suffered emotional and mental pain, and now she gone through physical torture. He hadn't exactly hurried to return Henry, nor had he raced back. It was possible that she had been like this for a while. Her spirit was broken.

And, when Tamara and Greg returned from wherever they had gone, there was a strong likely hood that she would be tortured again. He had gathered that while Tamara was simply after magic, Greg had some sort of personal grudge against the woman. And personal grudges always led to more pain and suffering, he knew that from experience.

Hook glanced over his shoulder, just to check that he really was alone. Then he bent down until his mouth was level with her ear. He had done fulfilled his part of the bargain, what harm would it do to try and encourage the woman to flee? His two temporary allies weren't even aware that he had returned. 'Now might be a good time to evacuate, You're Majesty'.

There was no response. Regina remained staring at the ceiling, her eyes dead and empty, her face blank and pale. It was hard to tell whether she had even heard him. He stood, agitation filling him. In her current state, there was a good chance that she would not survive another round. He cast a disgusted look at the machine lying on a nearby table. His hand closed around her shoulder, and he watched her start visibly. Her eyes darted to his, and for the first time emotion flared in her eyes. Fear. It made her look vulnerable, and vulnerability made her look very young. 'Regina, you should go while you can'. He didn't want to watch her die. He didn't want her to die. And he had no idea why he cared so much. He hadn't cared about anything but his revenge in a very long time. Perhaps that was why he was holding onto it. It reminded him of his feelings for Milah in a way. He hadn't cared about anything but piracy and rum until she had come along.

Regina continued to stare up at him, as if his words were foreign to her. 'And why should I, pirate? There is very little for me left in this world, and my remaining presence here prevents the only person that I care about from suffering in a way that no one should suffer. I will not hurt him of my own violation'.

It was her voice that did it. Her enchanting voice was cold, unemotional, and full of a reserved defeat that pulled at his heart strings. Hopelessness hung around her like a sickness. The room smelt of pain and blood and horror. The only break in the pattern was in the faint scent of apples that hung around her. He swallowed with some difficulty. 'Henry is with the Charmings. They will not risk his safety again. They will not let him out of their sight. He will be safe, whether or not you escape'.

Her eyes were empty again, the little emotion sucked away into the black void that seemed to fill her whole being. 'There is no way of knowing that for sure. I will not risk it'. She turned her head away from him, and that small movement seemed to cause her great pain. 'Besides, it's no less than I deserve. I killed my true love, and I killed my mother. If it wasn't for the saviour, I would have killed my son as well. I've spent a long time running from death, and perhaps it has finally caught up with me'.

His blood ran cold as she spoke. No one should talk of death that lightly, with so little emotion. No one should speak of torture as if it was deserved. He could hear how it had affected him when he spoke. His voice was just a little softer, less arrogant and dismissive. 'And yet, if you were with him, you could protect him'.

She remained silent for a moment. When she spoke, there was emotion in her voice, but her eyes remained as empty as ever. 'The Charmings would not allow it'.

'He is your son Regina. What they allow is of little consequence. And I doubt they would mind, if it meant keeping Henry safe. It is the one thing you all have in common'. He shut his mouth before he could say more. He wasn't meant to care, he needed to remember that.

She didn't reply. Her eyes fell closed, and her body seemed to sag a little into the hard table. She was still breathing, but either she had lost consciousness or the effort of talking to him had exhausted her. The meaning was clear either way. The discussion had ended.

But, perhaps this was not the end of it.

Here, with this a more pressing concern, his revenge had taken a back seat. For the first time in a while, he was thinking of something other than how to kill Gold. For the first time, the rage of Hook was drifting into the background, and empathy of Killian was raising its head. There were times in the past when it had appeared, noticeably when he had stopped Aurora's heart from falling through the portal, even if he had been the one to rip it out, but it had lain dormant since Milah's death. Milah. What would she do? Her greatest regret was leaving her son behind.

If he turned his back now, would he regret it?

His remaining hand was pulling his sword from its sheath before he had fully realised that he had come to a decision. Carefully, he sliced the ropes away and stuffed them in his pocket. Regina remained unmoving as he slipped an arm beneath her knees. She did not react when he lifted her against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder, and perhaps that was for the best. She couldn't exactly argue while unconscious.

He left the area quickly, eager to get away from the place before Tamara and Greg returned. He hurried through the woods quietly, holding the damaged and broken woman carefully. He had by no means abandoned his revenge, and as far as he was concerned their alliance still stood. It wasn't as if he had broken their contract. He had done what they had asked of him; inform Regina of Henry's capture, and misleading the Charmings into believing the Regina herself was responsible. Henry would have cleared all that up; if the Charmings had been foolish enough to believe the rather transparent evidence he had planted. As long as Tamara and Greg didn't suspect, then he could still use them to help him with his revenge.

Regina remained limp in his arms, but he felt her head move against his shoulder. He felt her eyes upon him, felt the emptiness in her soul call out for something else to devour. He felt the hand on his chest curl so that her nails dug into his jacket. He felt her warm breath against his neck as she spoke, her voice lost and bleak. 'Thank you'. She was by no means a damsel, but even the strong ones needed saving sometimes. He was, after all, the only person who had cared enough to risk something in a while, and it was that thought that forced his legs to move faster.

He had a few regrets, but helping a woman who had been through more than he wanted to think about would not become one of them.

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_**So, what do you think? **_

_**I actually think that something like this might happen on the show, because I can't see Regina getting on Hook's ship if he actually tortured her. I know that she apparently double crosses him later in the show, but still. Even if it was for Henry, she wouldn't be happy getting on his ship, and she doesn't actually look angry in the promo photos. Plus, I think this might go towards explaining why he would double cross Tamara and Greg to help the Charmings go to Neverland. **_

_**Anyway, I'm going to go and drown in my feelings, and possibly send some complaints to the writers. I mean, torture is not something that should be present on family shows. **_

_**Please review!**_


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